GEORGIAN FILBERT ON GLOBAL MARKET – CHALLENGES AND THREATS

December 8, 20141,276 Views

On November 28 the Assembly of Young Analysts and Scientists held a forum “Georgian Filbert on the Global Market – Challenges and Threats”. The forum was held at Tbilisi Marriot Hotel (Sh. Rustaveli Avenue 13) in Tbilisi. The forum introduced the most modern research providing a comparative analysis of Georgian filbert and nuts exports (price, volume, revenues) in relation to immediate competitors. The research determines the place of Georgian filbert and nut on the global market, as well as Georgia’s competitor countries.

Filbert Market in Georgia

Production (Growing)

Filbert and nut are widely grown in Georgia. According to the official statistics, the ratio of filbert and nut in Georgia-grown fruits makes up 20% for the last 8 years.

According to the National Statistics Office of Georgia (GeoStat), Georgia has recorded the highest yield of filberts and nuts in 2013, when the figure marked 50.5 thousand tons, up 71.2% compared to 2012. The figure is the highest for the last 8 years. According to the 2013 declared reports, the ratio of filbert in total yield marked 78.6% in 2013.

According to the declared reports to GeoStat, in 2013 the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti Region has recorded 51.6% of total filbert crops, the Guria Region – 22.7%, the Imereti Region – 14.1% and all other Regions – 11.6%.

An about half part of Georgia-grown nut is recorded in three regions: Imereti with 20.4%, Kakheti – 13.9% and Shida Kartli – 13.9%. Another half part is recorded in all other regions.

Processing

Information on Georgia’s filbert processing is also important to characterize the filbert market.

According to the GeoStat statistics, in 2013 Georgia processed 28.9 thousand tons of filberts worth 269.6million GEL, up 85.2% in volume and up 91.5% in value compared to the 2012 indicators.

Foreign Trade (Exports/Imports)

The last period has recorded growth in nut and filbert exports from Georgia. The lowest volume of 6.8 million USD was registered in 2002, while the highest volume of 166.7 million USD was marked in 2013. Serious downturn was fixed in 2008 and 2012, when filbert and nut exports considerably shrank compared to previous years. The 2008 exports shrank twice and more compared to 2007, while the 2012 exports dropped by 36% compared to 2011.

It should be also noted filbert and nut exports in January to September 2014 surpasses the 2012 indicator by 28.1%. In 2013 Georgia exported 30 285 tons of filbert and nuts worth 166.7 million USD, up about twice in value and up 93.1% in volume compared to 2012.

An analysis for the last 14 years shows filbert and nut exports are in the ten top exports items of Georgia every year. Moreover, filbert and nut exports have entered Georgia’s five top exports items for 8 years.

In 2013 filbert and nuts ranked third in Georgia’s exports with a 5.7% ratio in total exports and 9% ratio in net exports rating. In 2012 the products ranked 5th with 3.5% ratio in total exports and 5.2% ratio in net exports.

It is worth noting for the last 14 years filbert and nut exports marked about 4.6% in Georgia’s total exports, while the ratio is up 1.5 times in net exports compared to the total exports.

In 2013 Georgia exported nut and filbert to about 40 countries, including, Germany ranks first among exports markets with 28.4% ratio, Kazakhstan is second with 17.8% ratio and Italy is third with a 42.4% ratio.

The table below shows the rating of exports markets for Georgia’s filbert and nut:

It should be also noted in 2013 Georgia imported 756.9 tons of filbert and nut worth 2.2 million USD from 20 countries, up 8.9% in value and up 6.3% in volume compared to the 2012 indicators. Ukraine ranks first in Georgia’s imports markets for filbert and nut with a 23% ratio, Azerbaijan is second with 18.5% and Turkey is third with 15.2% ratio.

To outline a real picture of Georgia’s nut and filbert exports, we should determine net exports, that is exports without re-exports.

According to the report, for the last 14 years Georgia carried out filbert and nut re-exports only in 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014 in small volumes.

International Comparisons

Germany

As reported, Germany is Georgia’s main foreign trade partner for nut and filbert exports with a 28.4% ratio in the 2013 exports.

Germany imported nut and filbert from about 55 countries throughout 2013.

The USA ranks first in Germany’s nut and filbert imports with 40.2% ratio. Turkey is second with 9.7%, Spain is third with 9.3%, the Netherlands is fourth with 7.7%, Italy is fifth with 6.7%, Belgium is sixth with 5.2%, France is seventh with 3.5% and Georgia is eight with 3.3%.

Compared to competitor countries, Georgia maintains low prices on filbert and nut exported to Germany (6.1 USD). At the same time, the price of filbert and nut exported from France is lower by 40%. The highest price is registered in the Netherlands among the above countries (9 USD).

Kazakhstan

According to the 2013 declared reports, Kazakhstan emerges second among Georgia’s filbert and nut exports markets with a 17.8% ratio. It is worth noting Georgia is Kazakhstan’s major importer of nut and filbert. The ratio of Georgian imports of filbert and nut in Kazakhstan’s total imports makes up 70%.

In 2013 about 13 countries exported nut and filbert to Kazakhstan. Georgia ranked first in this respect. Azerbaijan came second with 20.6%. The USA ranked third with 4.7%, Turkey emerged fourth with 1.5% and Germany ranked fifth with 1.3%.

An average price for exports of nut and filbert from Georgia to Kazakhstan is 5.3 USD. Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan offer competitive prices too.

Italy

According to the 2013 declared reports, Italy ranks third among Georgian exports markets with an 11.4% ratio.

As to average prices for exports of nut and filbert to Italy in 2013, Georgia maintained the standard price of 6.2 USD. Some countries of the EU offer lower prices: Spain – 5.3USD and France 4.8 USD. The highest price is offered by Germany (14.2 USD).

The USA is considered to be the world’s major exporter of filbert and nut with 52% ratio. Turkey and Italy share the second and third places with 9.3% and 4.4% respectively.